The first steps for running a conference include choosing a chair and key committee members, defining the conference scope, and establishing sponsorship relationships. Once you have the basic conference information, you can apply for IEEE approval for your conference. Your conference must be approved by IEEE before you can promote IEEE sponsorship or use the IEEE brand.

Every conference has a General Chair, appointed by the sponsoring organization. The chair:

should be a member of IEEE or of a co-sponsoring organization;

often selects the conference location;

appoints the conference committee.

The Conference Committee runs the conference. It holds meetings as needed to ensure that the conference is on track and reports to the sponsoring organization. Most conferences have at least a Proceedings Chair and Finance Chair/Treasurer.

Conferences often set up committees for specific functions such as Finance/Treasurer, Technical Program, Publicity, Registration, Exhibits, Audit, and Local Arrangements. The chairs of these committees usually serve on the conference committee. Be sure to create a clear definition of roles and responsibilities and who each committee reports to.

The conference committee defines the scope of the conference. The scope may be an existing field of interest, a subset of that field, closely related fields of interest, or a new technology. The Technical Program Chair usually leads the process to determine the scope of the conference. The scope will depend on a number of factors, including:

anticipated interest in the topic;

maturity of the technology;

location of the conference;

potential exhibitors.

You may decide whether your conference also includes symposia, workshops, tutorials, expositions, or other events.

Conference sponsors are accountable for the financial, technical, publicity-related or administrative aspects of running the conference.

At least one sponsor of an IEEE conference must be an IEEE organizational unit or an IEEE society, region, section, chapter, council, or committee. IEEE organizational units can provide financial or technical (non-financial) involvement.

IEEE supports three types of sponsorship:

Type

Description

Sole financial sponsorship

One IEEE organizational unit has complete financial and technical responsibility for the conference. In a sole sponsorship, the rights to the conference name, slogan, copyright for publications, and/or logo are owned by IEEE.

Financial co-sponsorship

An IEEE organizational unit shares significant involvement in the technical, financial, publicity-related, and administrative aspects of the conference with another IEEE organizational unit or a non-IEEE non-profit organization.

Technical co-sponsorship

An IEEE organizational unit has direct and substantial involvement in the development and running of the technical program but no financial involvement in the conference.

Successful conferences are based on the strong cooperation of more than one IEEE organizational unit, such as technical/professional and geographic units. The earlier these units are involved in the conference, the better. These arrangements must be made before the selection of the conference location.

Submit an IEEE Conference Application to register and request approval for your conference from IEEE. Your conference must be approved by IEEE before you can promote IEEE sponsorship or use the IEEE brand. After your conference is approved, your conference will be listed on the IEEE Conference Search and IEEE Call for Papers.

IEEE assigns a conference ID when you submit the conference application. You can use the conference ID to check on your application status.

Use this form to provide IEEE with details about your conference as soon as you have basic information such as the dates, location, and sponsors of the conference set. You can later provide IEEE Conference Services with updates or additional information when it is available.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is required when two or more entities agree to co-sponsor a conference. These entities may all be IEEE organizational units or IEEE and non-IEEE organizations that are legally registered as a not-for-profit.

The MOU is generated automatically using the sponsor information you entered in the IEEE Conference Application. IEEE sends each of the sponsor representatives an e-mail that contains a link to review the MOU and submit their decision.

If the information in the MOU is correct, the sponsor signatory enters his or her name, title, and e-mail address on the form and chooses Approve. The sponsor signatory is the person authorized to enter into contract agreements for the conference. If the information is not correct or needs to be changed, the sponsor signatory chooses Decline.

Does your conference have an existing MOU in effect? If so, be sure to alert Conference Services using the "Comments" field in Step 7 when you submit your IEEE Conference Application.

If you are involved in making business or purchase decisions for a conference, or other activities that could represent a conflict of interest, you must complete the Principles of Business Conduct/Conflict of Interest form.

The conference chair, treasurer, and any other conference organizer making business or purchase decisions for a conference, or involved in other activities that could represent a conflict of interest, must complete a Principles of Business Conduct/Conflict of Interest (POBC/COI) form.